The Art of City Making

The annual lecture has been established in memory of Andy Howell who was a local political activist working to ensure inclusion and reshaping how politics engaged with grass roots and local people. Andy was steadfast in supporting the marginalised communities to become engaged in the critical thinking on the social economy; a community activist who became a Councillor for Birmingham City Council and governor of several local schools.  

The Andy Howell lecture aims to honour his aspiration to bring people together from all walks of life to encourage critical thinking and thought-provoking debates which discuss key questions on Social and community development; the relevance of the state to enable devolution to local areas; the knock-on effect of changing the economic situation in neighbourhoods and civil society.

Through the lectures, we will bring together diverse research, professional and practitioner communities. National and international speakers will be invited to conduct the lecture. 

What to expect

The Andy Howell Memorial Lecture is rooted in Andy’s belief that dialogue, inclusion and collective thinking are essential to building a fairer society.

The evening will bring together voices from across Birmingham’s political, cultural, business and community sectors to reflect on:

• How to build cities that truly include everyone
• The role of communities in shaping the future of our city
• How to create stronger connections between diverse identities and experiences

Charle Landry

Charles Landry is an author and international adviser on the future of cities best known for popularising the Creative City concept. His book The Creative City: A Toolkit for Urban Innovators became a movement to rethink the planning, development and management of cities. Charles has been credited for his attempt to rethink city making through his work on intercultural cities, the psychology of cities, and the nomadic world. In 1978 he founded Comedia, a think tank, publisher and consultancy. Comedia undertook much of the early work highlighting the importance of cultural resources as well as a methodological framework and evidence for what is now known as the creative economy, formerly cultural industries.

From the 2000s onwards his work has focused on urban ecosystems and measuring civic creativity and public innovation. The Creative Bureaucracy Festival is the main platform for these ideas.

New Roots

New Roots is a registered Charity, which Andy Chaired for 18 months. It’s vision and purpose is to support housing solutions for vulnerable people, and its aspires to provide a platform for creative solutions that will break down barriers and create dialogues that will build relationships across the divide…….to enable meaningful change. (Become a powerful voice for change that must include local people).